


Staying loyal

by Rogercat



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Caretaking, Elves, F/M, First Age, Gentle Kissing, Healing, Loyalty, Nargothrond, Permanent Injury, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 14:01:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22497286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rogercat/pseuds/Rogercat
Summary: Finduilas and Gwindor stays together
Relationships: Finduilas Faelivrin/Gwindor
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	Staying loyal

Finduilas had first thought it to be a dream while she was awake. For all of that Gwindor indeed had changed in both body and spirit from the horrors of Angband, she still had been able to recognize him. She had stayed loyal to their betrothal during those seventeen years, a part of her wishing for him to return. 

He had done that, despite being so weak from starvation and exhaustion that he ended up being bedridden for the first weeks after returning to Nargothrond. A fever burned in his body, and Finduilas insisted on caring for Gwindor despite that there was healers and their assistants to do that for her. 

“I want to get used to how he is changed, for how can I otherwise face him without shame later when he have recovered?” 

Her parents agreed on that, understanding her logic and thought that she did well in trying to make herself familiar with the current state of Gwindor. With how his spirit and soul had become marred, he now looked like the aged among mortals 

  
  


Gwindor himself was grateful for her care, once the fever broke and he could stay awake for longer periods. There was nothing they could do about the stump where one hand had been cut off, but at least they could try and help Gwindor recover by slowly increase the amount of food he ate and gentle exercise such as walking around the room if someone supported him, for he quickly became exhausted and could not do much yet after the fever. The healers was worried about how his stomach would react on normal food after being starved for so long, so for now, Finduilas most fed him dishes that was easy to digest, and Gwindor did not complain since even a plain bowl of oatmeal porridge with a little milk tasted heavenly compared to what he had to eat as a slave.

“I am almost afraid of that this will prove itself to be a dream, and when I wakes up, it will be the darkness of the mines in Angband greeting me again,” Gwindor confessed honestly one evening, when Finduilas had given him some fruit sauce as a surprise treat after his dinner. 

“And I dreads a similar thing, that I will not find you here in the bed, with no traces of ever being here.” 

He smiled sadly at hearing that, where he was resting towards the raised pillows to sit up better, understanding how they shared that kind of fear despite how different it would be. 

~X~X~X~X~X~X

But as Gwindor recovered and slowly started to be seen at Finduilas' side again, something which gladdened their old friends at court and the family members, they found themselves with a unexpected trouble: 

The mortal he had brought along at his return. 

“I fear that Túrin might not…have honest ideas,” Gwindor tried to say, one day when they enjoyed the sunny summer weather. Finduilas knew, it was impossible to miss the way Túrin looked at her when he thought that she did not notice, and given what had happened only twenty-four years ago, with the Princess of Doriath, no one could be blind for what kind of idea Túrin might be thinking about. 

That he would be able to charm a Elven princess into falling in love with him, just like Beren had done. Most likely, Túrin would try and prove how he was everything Gwindor no longer was after his years of slavery. Sure, Túrin was a skilled warrior, but he would eventually grow old and die, or possibly meeting his end by one of the many illnesses that mortals suffered from. Some of them died in what they called the best years of their life, fully grown, while others did live past childhood or even infanthood at times. 

“If he tries to seduce me in some way, then I'll use his mortality against him in response. He is no Beren, as you said yourself, Gwindor.” 

Finduilas thought back with great fondness on her uncle Aegnor, and his mortal lover Andreth. She knew that they had remained faithful to each other despite not being able to marry, and she recalled how she once had met Andreth in her older years, and found the mortal wisewoman to be beautiful by old age in a different manner than when she first had met Aegnor at the age of twenty. 

“Then I shall be sending lord Aegnor and lady Andreth my thanks everyday for giving you a good example of how a couple in love can still remain loyal despite having a lot of odds against them.” 

Yes, her uncle and his mortal love was a far better example than Luthien and Beren when it came to a love story between a Elf and a Second born, especially as they had not caused the relationship between the Elven realms to become worse by their actions. 

“Besides, if I am to have a child...a mortal husband may not be the wisest choice, because that would really limit my chances to become pregnant into only a few decades.”

Unlike their female equivalents among the race of Men, She-elves only had their “red flower” visiting once every fifth year, so there was a logical reason to why many had doubted that Luthien really wanted to marry Beren and have children with him. And had their genders been reversed, like in the case of Aegnor and Andreth, a similar problem would likely have shown up since mortal women could perhaps count on 30 years of their monthly visitor arriving in total unless they were pregnant or nursing. And no one knew how a child of a such union would grow up, so far the only one known was Dior Eluchil, the son of Luthien and Beren, but rumour said that they were both mortals now after returning to life and thus their only child was said to take after the Second-born. 

“A very good point about the pros and cons about a such relationship,” Gwindor agreed, resting his head against her shoulder. The conversation was more tiring than what he had first thought, but he did not want to fall asleep yet. 

“I would rather take you as my husband as you are now, Gwindor, despite that it might not be possible for you to sire a child on me due to the injuries you suffered. But if something happens, and we are reborn in new bodies there in Valinor as uncle Finrod is said to have been...we can still have children together, because that would be the greatest gift of them all.” 

He smiled, feeling the warmth of her skin below the fabric. Finduilas was right, they could still marry and at least attempt to consummate their marriage. And if he was unable to sire children in this marred body...well, there was the hope of rebirth as she had said. 

“My princess of the sun and light of hope.” 

This time, Finduilas gently held up his head close to her own face and kissed Gwindor on the lips as proof of meaning what she promised. 

  
  


During that night, Túrin was found dead with a broken neck down at the end of a very long staircase in the lower parts of Nargothrond. No one knew if it had been a accident or possible murder, but to be honest, there was many among the royal court who had seen the way he looked at Finduilas, and few doubted that he would have tried to get “inspiration” from the tale of Luthien and Beren about possibly winning the heart of a different Elven princess as his bride. Unfortunately Finduilas had refused to break her betrothal with Gwindor, as well not exactly finding him a good replacement as a future husband for many reasons, making him the losing suitor from the start. 

  
  
  


In the year 492 of the First Age, during a beautiful summer day as if the nature around Nargothrond wanted to bless their union, Finduilas married Gwindor in a simple yet elegant wedding ceremony. Whatever the future held now, with Túrin gone from their life though the natural way of death, the couple did not know, but they wanted to face the future together as husband and wife. 

**Author's Note:**

> My personal headcanon is that She-elves only have their menstruation once every fifth year to explain how siblings among the Elves might be born a very long time apart (like how Elladan and Elrohir are born 111 years before Arwen), and that they generally have the codename of “red flower” to use when in the company of those who might not be comfortable around the subject
> 
> I think many Elves doubted Luthien and Beren to be able to have a lasting relationship exactly for the reasons Finduilas and Gwindor are mentioning, eventual death due to morality while the Elf remains alive, doubt whether they could even have children together


End file.
